Toshiba buys SA-based Consert Inc.

Updated 7:59 pm, Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Toshiba Corporation said late Wednesday it's purchasing San Antonio-based Consert Inc., which signed a deal to sell 140,000 home-energy management systems to CPS Energy in 2011.

The Japanese industrial powerhouse didn't disclose terms of the acquisition agreement. Privately held Consert will be integrated into the Toshiba subsidiary Landis+Gyr, which produces energy management and metering products.

“This step by Toshiba and Landis+Gyr is a huge milestone for our employees, partners and owners,” said Roy Moore, Consert's co-founder and chief development officer.

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“We don't anticipate the relocation of our San Antonio operation,” said Jeff Ebihara, a spokesman for Consert, who added the company currently employees 60 people in the city. “We believe the Toshiba acquisition will only lead to greater opportunities for our current and future employees.”

Consert moved its headquarters from Raleigh, N.C., to San Antonio in 2011 as part of a deal that it signed with CPS to sell the city-owned utility its system.

The system allows consumers to control their heaters and air conditioners, pool pumps and water heaters through an Internet portal.

It also sends information about aggregate power usage from all the homes equipped with the meters to CPS, and allows the utility to implement power-saving measures at those homes — like turning off the pool pumps or adjusting the thermostat by a couple of degrees — during times of heavy loads. Customers have the option to opt out of the power-saving measures if they like.

“We're absolutely excited about it,” CPS spokeswoman Lisa Lewis said of the acquisition. “We're excited about the resources that a major player like Toshiba can bring to our community.”

She said the utility had installed Consert's system in 8,000 households throughout the area.

It's the second deal that Toshiba has struck with a CPS partner in recent years. In February 2012, Toshiba signed a distribution deal with LED-light maker GreenStar Products Inc., putting Toshiba's name on GreenStar's products in exchange for distributing the lights throughout North America.